Inking device for flat-bed printing-presses.



F. S. ENGLISH.

INKING DEVICE FOR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESSES.

Patezrtsd Apr. 29, 1919 5SHEETSSHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE26. l9l7.

Lzwmw F. S. ENGHSH.

INKING DEVICE FOR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLiCATlON FILED JUNE 26. 1917- Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

LGLQQSQ 5 SHEETSSHEET 2.

F. S. ENGLISH.

INKING DEVICE FOR'FLAT BED PHHJTING PRESSE-S.

APPLICATION FILED umezs. 29x7.

5 SHEETS-SHEEY 3.

3 Wa e pkg, i

F. S. ENGLISH.

INKING DEVICE FOR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESSES. APPLiCATlON FILED JUNE 26. 1917.

LEQLQQSQ h Patented Apr. 29,1919.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

F. S. ENGLISH.

INKING DEVICE FOR FLAT BED PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26.4917.

' Patented Apr. 29,1919.

LSGLQQS.

5 SHEETSSHEET 5.

W li iioz'mm' FRED S. ENGLISH, OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.

INKING DEVICE FOR FLAT-BED PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 29, JHMQ.

Application filed June 26, 1917. Serial No. 176,949.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED S. ENGLISH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New London, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inking Devices for Flat-Bed Printing-Presses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to inking devices for flat or reciprocating bed presses. My principal object is to provide a very simple, inexpensive and eiiicient inking device for flatbed presses.

Heretofore, the table rollers which serve to cut up or distribute the ink over the ink table or slab have been placed near the front end of the press and the form rollers were placed near the cylinder, and in such an arrangement it has been a simple matter to drive or rotate the form rollers, whereas it has been a more complex matter to properly drive the table rollers. It has not been practicable to use a simple rack on the bed meshing in gears on the table rollers, as is done in driving the form rollers, because the rack, going forward on the forward stroke, would project too far beyond the end of the press, a thing which is objectionable for obvious'reasons. One of the successful devices for driving the table rollers without having the operating parts project is shown in the U. S. patent to G. P. Fenner, No. 701,698.

My object here is to accomplish all that was accomplished in previous devices, with less expensive mechanism. In addition, there are certain features of advantage in the present device over previous inking devices, will be pointed out in detail.

In the present case I am able to use a rack and. gear for driving the table rollers but the arrangement is such that the rack need be but slightly longer than the bed of the press so that it will not project beyond the press on the forward stroke of the bed. I am, in fact, able to utilizea single rack common to the form rollers and table rollers, for re volving both, which is preferable for the sake of economy and simplicity.

To accomplish the main object I arrange the table rollers nearer the form rollers or farther away from the front of they press than heretofore, so that the rack which turns the table rollers need not project much beyond the bed and ink slab. This brings the table rollers into a position over the path of travel of the form and if these rollers were to come into contact with the form they would apply ink to the latter before it had been properly distributed. In the present case I provide automatic means for preventing the table rollers from touching the form and preferably this consists of means for periodically raising the table rollers to allow the form to pass thereunder and out of contact.

Instead of placing the fountain and ductor farther back as is done with the table rollers I prefer to place them farther forward or nearer the front of the press. I also prefer to have the ductor coact with the ink slab instead of with the table rollers and to so arrange the several parts that the form rollers will not touch that part of the slab which is touched by the ductor.

There are other advantages to be attained by causing a periodical up and down movement of some or all .of the ink rollers. For instance, the table or form rollers, or both, may be raised sufficiently to'disengage them from the vibrators at the proper time so that they will spin around out of contact with the vibrators as a result of the momentum following the movement imparted by the vibrators. When the table or form rollers are thus allowed to spin free of the vibrators the table or form rollers are more apt to ree-ngage with the vibrators in relatively different parts of their peripheries. This insures a more even wear on the different rollers and it insures a more even, distribution of the ink. This separation of the table and form rollers from the vibrators preferably takes place at or near the end of the forward stroke of the bed.

Various other features of improvement will appear from the detailed description hereinafter.

In the drawings forming part of this application Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of a flat bed press showing the principal parts of the inking devices, some of the latter being indicated diagrammatically for clearness.

Fig. 2 is a similar view but with the bed moved to its rearmost position.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the press showing the table and fountain rollers on a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view showing the parts of the inking device.

Fig. 5 is a diagran'unatic view of the press showing an additional rise on the cam which lifts the table rollers, for the purpose of separating these rollers from the vibrator, and

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing an addi tional cam member arranged to lift the form rollers to' allow them to spin.

In the drawings I have shown a part of the frame of the press at 1, this being the front portion of the press, and the cylinder is represented at 2. I have indicated only such parts of the press as are necessary to an understanding of my present invention. The form rollers are arranged over the bed and near the cylinder and there may be any desired number. In the drawings I have indicated two form rollers, which touch the form, and rear vibrator roller 45 which latter rests on and rotates the form rollers 3. These several rollers revolve in bearings 22 and 23 the former of which is in a fixed bracket 24 on the press frame and the latter bearings being in adjustable brackets 25. On the shaft of the upper roller 45 there is a gear 26 which is driven by a gear 27; and the latter is operated by a toothed rack 21 mounted on and reciprocating with the bed 28. This also serves to operate the table rollers as Will be pointed out. lVhen the bed reciprocates, the rack 21, acting through the gears 27, 26 turns the roller 45 and the latter drives the rollers 3 which roll over the surface of the portion 5 of the ink slab and then over the form, thus taking the ink which has been distributed over the portion 5 of the slab and spreading it over the form 4.

The table rollers are preferably placed as close as convenient to the form rollers and they may be of any desired number, there being three such rollers shown in the drawings.

They comprise the two lower rollers 6 which roll on the ink slab, and an upper roller 10 which rests on the two lower rollers. The upper roller 10, turns in a fixed bracket 29 whereas the lower rollers turn in the brackets 30 which are both adjustable toward and from each other and are also adjustable up and down. Each bracket 30 is attached by a bolt and slot connection 31 to one arm 7 of a lever which fulcrums on a stud 17 in the stationary frame of the press, and the bolt and slot connection permits the brackets 30 to be moved toward or from each other to keep the lower rollers in the proper relation to the upper roller 10.

The upper roller 10 has a gear 13 mounted on its shaft 32 and this gear meshes with and is driven by a gear 14 on the stud 33. The gear 14 meshes with and is turned by the rack 21, as the latter reciprocates with the bed, and in the preferred construction this is the same rack which drives the form rollers. The roller 10 is thus driven through the rack 21 and gears 13, 14 and the lower rollers 6 are driven in turn by the roller 10 with which they contact.

There is a cam 8 at each side of and attached to the bed 28, which cam has a lower portion 34 toward the forward end of the press and a higher portion 35 toward the back of the press. This cam which reciprocates with the bed, operates on the rollers 15 which are mounted on the lever 97, thus raising the lever 97 and with it the brackets 30 and rollers 6. The springs 18 exert downward pressure on the levers 7-9 for the purpose of keeping their rollers 15 in contact with the cam 8. The bolts 36 arranged in the press frame serve as stops go limit the downward motion of the levers The form is indicated at 4 and the ink table or slab is arranged on the bed just forward of the form, I have shown the ink slab divided into a forward section 37 and a rearward section 5 although there need be no physical separation between these sections as they may be continuous.

The ink fountain 38 is here shown as disposed above the path of the bed and at the front end of the press and the location and details of the fountain are not part of the present invention. There is a fountain roller 11 with which the ductor 12 contacts and from which it takes the ink which it is to deposit on the ink slab. The ductor 12 is mounted on one arm 39 of the lever which rocks from the fulcrum 40 and it is to be understood that there is a similar lever at the opposite side of the press for carrying the opposite end of the ductor. There are high and low cam surfaces 41, 42 on the underside of the cam member 8, with which a roller 20 on the arm 43 of the ductor lever contacts. The spring 19 drawing on the arm 44 causes the roller 20 to follow the cam surfaces 41, 42.

The operation of the above-described structure will be as follows:

Each time the bed goes backward or toward the back of the press the roller 20 rides on the higher cam surface 41 and this allows the ductor arm 44 to be drawn over by its spring 19 until the ductor 12 touches the fountain roller 11 to take ink from the latter. When the bed goes forward, the roller 20 rides on the lower cam surface 42 and this draws the ductor lever over until it contacts with the ink slab, and the operation is such that the ductor will only be pressed down while the section 37 of the slab is traveling underit and therefore the ductor only transfers ink to this section.

Each time the bed is in its rearmostposr tion and starts'on its forward movement the section 37 of the ink slab, which is the section to which the ink is supplied by the ductor, first travels under the table rollers, and the lower rollers 6, in rolling over the section 37 take up some of the ink from this slab section. Immediately following this section 5, passes under the table rollers and the two lower rollers 16 roll over the surface of the section 5 and apply the ink thereto which they previously receive from the slab section 37. Upon the return or rearward stroke of the bed rollers 6 first touch the slab section 5; thereby acting to distribute the ink thereover, and afterward they roll over the section 37 to receive a further supply of ink. Thus, the table rollers receive the ink from the section 37, which only the ductor touched, and they distribute this ink over the slab section-5, ready for the form rollers.

At each forward stroke of the bed 28 the formirollers 3 contact with the slab section- 5, receiving therefrom the ink which had previously been distributed thereon by the table rollers and as the bed continues its stroke forward the form rollers transfer the ink which they received from the slab section 5, onto the form, The stroke of the bed and the positions ofthe parts are such that the slab section 37 never passes under the form rollers (that is, in the preferred construction), and therefore only the ink which has been properly cut-up or distributed by the table rollers is taken by the form rollers.

It will be apparent from the disposition of the several parts that when the bed makes a complete stroke in either direction that the ink slab and form both pass under the table rollers and if no provision were made to avoid it, the table rollers. would contact with theform and transfer the ink thereto before it had been properly distributed and thereby defeating the purpose of the table rollers.

In the structure shown herein, however, the levers 79 are forced upwardly by the higher cam surface 35 acting on the rollers 15, thus lifting the lowertable rollers 6; and as the latter are thus held up while the form is passing under the table rollers,1-the latter do not touch the form and therefore they transfer no ink thereto. formhas passed from under the table rollers the rollers 15 on the lovers 79,engage the lower portion 34: of the earn 8, under the action of the springs 18, whereupon the table rollers 6 fall in time to touch the ink slab.

The reason it is necessary to provide for the separation of the table rollers and form because the formerlie over-a portion of the path of the latter, and the reason the table rollers are thus disposed is so that they When the may be driven by a simple device which will not project far beyond the press when the bed makes its forward stroke.

In Fig. 5 I have shown how the raising of the table rollers may be utilized for additional advantages. Herein, the cam for operating the levers 9-7 is provided with an additional rise 46 'at the rear end and this rise is so disposed that the rollers 15 will engage therewith just before the bed completes its movement forward. The rise 35 of the V cam serves to lift the table rollers sufliciently to be free of the form but this rise is not sufficient to lift them away from the vibrator 10. When the rollers15 ride up on the rise 46 the table rollers are raised an additional extent and this time they are lifted so as to be free of the vibrator 10. The table rollers are driven by the vibrator 10 until the rollers 15 move onto the cam rise 46. I

Then, at about the end of the forward stroke of the bed, the table rollers are raised by the cam rise 46, so that they no longer touch the vibrator their momentum causes them to spin. When the table rollers are again lowered into contact with the vibrator their peripheries will engage at different positions to what they did before the table rollers were raised. This prevents the several rollers from wearing unevenly and it causes the ink to be more effectively cut up and distributed. Exceptfor the slight additional rise46 on the cam all parts of the press may be the same as those shown in the other views of the drawings.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the application of the lifting device to the form rollers. Here in the form rollers 3 are mounted on levers 47 which may be in all respects the same as the levers 9-7 which carry the table rollers. The rear vibrator and its driving means need not be altered in this arrangement. There is a cam plate 48 attached to the back end of the bed and it has a rise 49, which acts on the rollers 50 to rock the levers 47 and thus raise the form rollers 3 out of contact with the rear vibrator 45. When the form rollers are lifted, which willbe at about the time the bed completes its forward stroke, they will spin in a manner similar to the table rollers and when they return, they will re engage the rear vibrator 45 at different positions. JXcept for the addition of thelevers 4-7 and earn 48, the parts of the press may be the same as in the other views of the draw-- mgs. V

I do not wish to be understood as limiting this case to the specific structure described, as the broad invention resides in placing the table rollers over the path of the form, in placing the form rollers over the path of at least a part of the ink slab and over the path of the form, and in roviding means whereby the table rollers will not touch the form.

It will be understood that the various levers and the cam 8 will be duplicated at opposite sides of the press.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, of ink rollers comprising a form roller and a table roller, said table roller cooperating with said table and being so disposed that at least some portion of the form passes thereunder, and means for automatically causing a eriodical separation of cer tain of said ink rollers and the bed.

2. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, ink rollers comprising a form.

roller and a table roller, said table roller cooperating with said table and being so disposed that at least some portion of the form passes thereunder, means on said bed for revolving the form and table rollers and means for automatically causing a periodical separation of certain of said ink rollers and the bed.

3. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, form rollers, table rollers disposed whereby at least a portion of the form passes thereunder, means on said bed for revolving the form and table rollers and means for automatically moving the table rollers toward and from the bed whereby said table rollers will contact with said ink table and be free of said form.

4. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, form rollers, table rollers disposed whereby at least a portion of the form travels thereunder, common means on the bed for revolving the form and table rollers, and means for automatically moving the table rollers toward and from the bed whereby said table rollers will contact with said ink table and be free of said form.

'5. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, form rollers, table rollers disposed whereby at least a ortion of the form travels thereunder, gears for operating said form and table rollers, a common rack on said bed adapted to operate said gears to revolve the form and table rollers and means for automatically moving the table rollers toward and from the bed for the purpose set forth.

6. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, form rollers, table rollers coopcrating with said table and disposed whereby at least a portion of the form travels thereunder, means for revolving said rollers, a cam moving with the bed, and means operated by said cam for moving the table rollers toward and from the bed for the purpose set' forth.

7. In a printing press the combination of ers toward and from the bed and means for revolving said rollers.

8. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, form rollers, table rollers arranged over the path of said form and comprising lower rollers adapted to contact with said ink table, an upper roller contacting with said lower rollers, means moving with the bed for raising and lowering said lower rollers for the purpose set forth, and means for revolving the form rollers and table rollers.

9. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form and an ink table, form rollers, table rollers arranged over the path of said form and comprising lower rollers adapted to contact with said ink table, an upper roller resting on said lower rollers, gears for revolving said upper rollers, a rack on said'bed for operating said gears, levers carrying said lower table rollers and means on said bed for operating said levers to raise and lower said lower table rollers.

10. In a printing press the combination of a reciprocating bed having a form, form rollers, an ink table arranged whereby only a portion thereof passes under the form roll ers upon reciprocation of the bed, a ductor adapted to transfer ink only to that portion of said table which does not pass under said form rollers, table rollers arranged whereby both said portions of the ink slab pass thereunder, and means for periodically raising and lowering said table rollers to prevent their acting on said form.

11. In a printing press the combination of a cylinder, a reciprocating bed moving thereunder, a form on the back end of the bed, an ink table on the forward portion of said bed, table rollers arranged near said form rollers and so disposed that both the said form and the said ink table pass thereunder, and means for holding said table rollers down on said ink table while the latter is passing thereunder and for holding said table rollers raised free of said form while the latter is passing thereunder.

12. In a printing press having a bed, a cylinder, and inking mechanism, said inking mechanism including a vibrator and means for revolving it, a table roller operated by the vibrator and means for periodically causing a separation of the table roller and vibrator whereby the table roller may spin in relation to the vibrator.

13. In a printing press having a bed, a cylinder, and inking mechanism, said inking mechanism including a vibrator and means for revolving it, a form roller arranged to transfer ink to a form carried by said bed, said form roller being operated by said vibrator, and means for periodically causing a separation of the form roller and vibrator whereby the form roller may spin in relation to said vibrator.

14. In a printing press having a reciproeating bed, a cylinder, and inking mechanism, said inking mechanism including a vibrator, an ink roller operated thereby and adapted to transfer ink from one member carried by the bed to another member, means for revolving the vibrator, and means for periodically separating the ink roller from the vibrator at about the time the bed reaches the end of its forward stroke, Whereby said ink roller may spin in relation to the vibrator.

15. In a printing press having a reciprocating bed carrying a form and an ink table, ink rollers comprising vibrators, a form and a table roller each operated by a vibrator, said table roller being so disposed that at least some portion of the form passes thereunder, means for automatically causing a periodical separation of the table roller and the bed, and means for automatically causing a separation of the table roller and its vibrator for the purpose set forth.

Signed this 18th day of June, 1917.

FRED S. ENGLISH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the fcommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

